And , what would qualify you for that, I would suspect Willy and Campbell and whoever else is involved in the selection process would be in a better position to make that call than any of us including you. Any way I see Copper in the photographs are they old photos or is he back in the Academy .

Large squad to select from since these are basically games where the identifation of potential is as important as the result Similarly there is a needed to identify effective combinations and a selection which minimises any weakness in the squad .

Some squads have number of good backs some times the available backs lack potential or the forwards lack size to be competitive going forward .

In such circumstances two games by two different XVs give the coaches and the players an opportunity to assess as many players as possible in similar playing conditions.

rumncoke wrote:Large squad to select from since these are basically games where the identifation of potential is as important as the result Similarly there is a needed to identify effective combinations and a selection which minimises any weakness in the squad .

Some squads have number of good backs some times the available backs lack potential or the forwards lack size to be competitive going forward .

In such circumstances two games by two different XVs give the coaches and the players an opportunity to assess as many players as possible in similar playing conditions.

Thanks for the really useful info. I would never have realised otherwise that coaches would use a pre season friendly to identify who plays well and try different combinations out. You learn something every day!